Method and apparatus for processing glass yarn



Oct. 24, 1967 c. J. DUDZIK ETAL 3,343,358 I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING GLASS YARN Filed July 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Attorneys 1 Oct. 24, 1967 c J. DUDZIK ETAL 3,348,358

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING GLASS YARN Filed July 23, 1964 2 Sheets-$heet 2 lnvenibrs.

awed Dudzik' G21 E qrkins Aftopneqs United States latent O 3,348,368 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING GLASS YARN Chester J. Dudzik and Guy E. Perkins, Warwick, R.I.,

assignors to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No. 384,595 11 Claims. (Cl. 57-35) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for producing permanently crimped, fiutfed, or wavy glass yarn is described. The method comprises continuously drawing the glass yarn from a suitable supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature sufficient to set the yarn in the twisted formation, applying lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, cooling the yarn under uniform tension to stabilize the yarn after passage through the heat zone, untwisting the yarn and collecting the processed yarn. The disclosed method optionally includes applying a fixing agent to the twisted yarn. The resultant yarn is permanently crimped and has relatively high flexibility and structural strength.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of glass yarn and relates, more particularly, to high speed continuous processing of glass yarn to impart crimp and/ or torque therein in order that the yarn may be made into an article exhibiting permanent crimped, wavy or fluifed characteristics.

In United States Patent 2,803,108 to N. I. Stoddard et al., issued Aug. 20, 1957 there are disclosed and claimed methods of processing polyamide and other thermoplastic textile yarns. These methods contemplate, broadly, passing yarn through a heated zone to heat the yarn to a prescribed temperature, cooling the yarn to stabilize the same after passage through the heated zone, and winding up the processed yarn. It is within the scope of the cited patent to twist the yarn during processing to impart certain physical characteristics thereto such as that which may generally be called stretch. Broadly stated, the yarn which displays these characteristics may be thought of as exhibiting a number of crimps and/or pigtails when the yarn strand is relaxed, i.e., when little or no tension is present in the yarn. The crimps are simply undulations or wavy formations in the yarn. The pigtails are actually sections of the individual yarn filaments comprising the yarn strand which are looped and twisted about themselves. Obviously, the pigtails so formed will have one or more loops or cross-over points therein where a filament has spiraled or twisted about itself. When the processed yarn is placed under higher tension the loops in the filaments uncoil to permit the yarn strand to extend and when the higher tension is relieved the crimps and pigtails reform to contract the length of the yarn. This process is' continuously reversible if the yarn has been permanently set in accordance with the methods of the cited patent.

Prior to the present invention it has been impractical from a commercial standpoint to process filament glass yarn in the manner just recited for processing polyamide yarn. While it is true that glass yarn under proper conditions of correlated temperature and tension can be false twisted in order to impart stretch characteristics thereto, it has been found that, with prior art methods these stretch characteristics in the yarn were both difiicult to achieve and retain. It has been discovered that glass yarn which was processed by the prior art methods lost virtually all its strength and recovery characteristics due to its being bent and abraded as occurs when the yarn is passed through a false twist spindle, or when the false twisted glass yarn is streched and relaxed. This is largely due to the poor abrasion characteristics of the individual filaments of the glass yarn after the yarn has been heated. That is to say, when filament glass is manufactured it is provided normally with a finish, such as a lubricant, which forms a protective coating providing the filaments with increased abrasion resistance. When this yarn is subsequently passed through a heat zone to reform the yarn, as contemplated by the present invention, the finish is burned off or its abrasion resistance is reduced. Thus, the yarn is thereafter responsive to abrasion as adjacent sections of the filaments rub on each other as the yarn is bent about a small radius so that the yarn cracks or fractures thereby destroying the continuity of the crimps and pigtails which, as explained, actually account for the stretch characteristics of the yarn. To consider further the condition of the yarn passing through the false twist spindle it will, of course, be appreciated that the individual filaments comprising the glass yarn strand are subjected to considerable rubbing on one another or, in other words, interfiber friction takes place as the yarn is wrapped around the twist trapping member of the spindle. In the absence of lubrication, these filaments abrade and subsequently fracture. Similarly, when the glass yarn which has been false twisted is alternately stretched and relaxed the pigtails uncoil and recoil thereby subjecting them to interfiber friction and considerable abrading at the cross-over points of the pigtails, all of which leads to fracturing of the filaments if the yarn is unlubricated.

With the foregoing in mind it has been found that in practice with the present invention it is possible to process filament glass yarn in a continuous process where the glass yarn which is subsequently formed into fabrics or other articles exhibits permanent qualities of stretch. Briefly, the present invention is directed to methods and apparatus for processing glass yarn wherein the yarn is continuously drawn from a source of supply, the yarn is twisted whereafter it is passed through a heat zone at a selected linear speed under uniform tension to heat the yarn and set it in its twisted formation, the yarn is then cooled and lubricated prior to entering the false twist spindle. After being untwisted it is collected and the torsional forces in the yarn are controlled. The torsional forces may be controlled by applying a soluble stiffening agent to the yarn prior to collecting the yarn, or by heating the yarn a second time under uniform tension conditions. The processed yarn may be subsequently formed into a fabric with the torsional forces in the yarn controlled. If a stiffening material has been used it can subsequently be washed out. The weave or formation of the fabric or article formed therefrom will thereupon serve to restrict the coiling or pigtailing of the filaments of the yarn to the end that a fabric exhibiting permanent stretch characteristics is obtained.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing glass yarn having torque stretch characteristics of a permanent nature.

A further object of the present invention is to provide methods for processing glass yarn which has permanent stretch characteristics, which said process is a continuous one step operation.

Yet, an additional object of the present invention is to provide a method for processing filament glass yarn with torque stretch characteristics wherein the yarn is lubricated and sized to form a yarn which may be woven into a fabric under the conditions of latent stretch, and the fabric may be treated thereafter to develop the stretch characteristics of the glass yarn.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing glass yarn wherein the yarn is heated, twisted, cooled, untwisted and then reheated a second time under correlated conditions of temperature, tension, and yarn speed to control the degree of filament looping to achieve desired yarn characteristics.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide apparatusfoh'continuohsly processing glass yarn wherein the yarn is heated, twisted, lubricated, and collectedyurider uniform tension to produce yarn having crimp'ed; fiuffedor wavy characteristics.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and willin part appear hereinafter. V

The invention accordingly comprises the processes involving the several steps and the relation and the order of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others which are exemplified in thefollowing detailed dis closure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims. i

For a fuller'understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side sectional view of a multistation apparatus adapted to practice the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic front elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary views similar to FIG. 1 showing modifications within the scope of the present invention.

With reference to the drawing, a preferred apparatus for carrying out the present invention comprises a multistation machine, each station including a false twist spindle, a separate yarn supply, a Wind up means, a first heat zone for heating the glass yarn to a plastic state while the yarn is in a twisted condition, a lubricating station for applying a lubricant to the yarn while the yarn is in its twisted condition, a sizing station for applying a size to the yarn after the yarn has been untwisted, a second heat zone forsetting the size prior to winding up of the processed yarn'and a-tension device for maintaining the yarn in a terisioned condition during its passing through said first heat zone-lubricating.station, false twist spindle, sizing station,and second heat zone. The take up is coordinated by conventional drive means, not shown, to correlate the linear-speed of travel of the glass yarn with the rotational speed of the false twist spindle to insert the desired false twist into the yarn. The temperatures of the heat zones are likewise correlated to the linear speed of travel and count of the yarn to supply suflicient heat thereto whereby in the first heat zone the glass yarn is transformed to a plastic state to effect the proper yarn setting in the twisted formation. The second heat zone is similarly correlated in order to properly heat the yarn with the size thereon in order that the size may be fixed or dried prior to take-up of the yarn.

With attention now to the drawing there is illustrated one processing station. It will be understood that in the preferred apparatus a plurality of similar stations would be arranged in side by side relationship along a common frame, all of the stations being operated from a single source of driving power. It will be further understood since all of these stations would be similar in construction it will suflice to describe but one of the stations in the following description. In the present instance the glass yarn is supplied from a supply package rnounted at the base of the machine for over-end delivery through a pigtail guide 12 and over a guide rod 14 to tension means 16. Tension means 16 may be of the interdigitated finger type presenting a tortuous course to the yarn Y.- A pair of pigtail yarn guides 17 and 18 are disposed on opposite sides of tension 16 in order to guide the yarn in a straight line path through this tension means. The y'arn Y is directed from pigtail guide 18 upwardly through a further pigtail guide 19 positioned in vertical alignment with and spaced below a heater 20. Pigtail guide 19 serves to facilitate movement of the yarn into an appropriate tube 22 of heater 20. Heater 20 may be any conventional type such as the electrically con-trolled type disclosed and claimed in US. Patent 2,864,931 to N. I. Stoddard, et al., entitled Heating Device for Use in Processing Textile Yarns, issued Dec. 16, 1958 and operated by conventional means not shown herein to accurately regulate the amount of heat imparted to the yarn during its travel therethrough. While it is not the intention of the present invention to limit the method to a specific type of heating it should be noted, in practice with the instant invention,

that it is desirable for the heater to be of the radiant type so that the strand of yarn Y is not in direct contact with any element of the heater. Rather, as illustrated, the yarn is conducted axially through the heated tube 22 forming a radiant yarn heating zone centrally through the heater 20. Preferably tube 22 is approximately 27 inches long and is capable, of being heated in the order of 700- 25 00 F. by heater 20. i

3 From the heater 20 the yarn passes upwardly through a centering guide 26 to' a false twist spindle28, said spindle 28 being spaced sufiiciently from the heater to provide a cooling zone for the yarn therebetween. The guide 19 cooperates with guide 26 to direct the yarn axially through tube 22 while keeping the yarn from running against the wall of the tube. Centering guide 26 also centers or positions the yarn for entrance into the central bore of false twist spindle 28 of the type, for example, disclosed and claimed in US. Patent 2,829,487 to N. I. Stoddard, et al. entitled Yarn Spindle, issued Apr. 8, 1958. As the yarn moves in its path from heater 20 to spindle 28 the yarn is caused to run against a lubricant applying roll 30 mounted for rotation on a shaft 32 which is driven by a suitable power source, not herein shown. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the roller has its lower section immersed in a trough 34 holding a lubricating bath 36 of suitable material. Thus, prior to entering the false twist spindle 28, the yarn has a lubricant applied to the surface thereof.

The false twist spindle 28 is of the high speed beltdr-iven type and operates in the well-known manner to impart a high degree of twist to the yarn Y. The twist imparted to the'yarn by the false twist spindle 28 extends in the yarn from the spindle 28 downwardly through heater 20 to tension 16 which performs the additional function of preventing the twist in the yarn from extending beyond said tension 16. Thus, it will be seen that the yarn, as it is guided against roller 30, is in a twisted condition. Moreover, it will be appreciated that as the yarn extends through tube 22 of heater 20 it is also in a twisted state. Advantageously, spindle 28 includes a spindle blade 38 having a central bore or aperture therethrough, said blade being in driving contact with an elongated belt 40. An idler pulley 42 which is one of a series of such pulleys along the apparatus, serves to track the driving belt. The driving belt 40 is operated from a power source not herein shown. The upper end of spindle blade 38 is formed as an enlarged spindle head 44 which is centrally apertured in coaxial alignment with the aperture through the main spindle blade to accommodate the yarn axially therethrough. A twist trapping device spans the opening across the center of spindle head 44 and, in operation, the yarn is wrapped around this twist trapping device in order that yarn may be suitably twisted.

As the yarn emerges upwardly :frorn twist trapping device 46 it is guided through a guide 48 which centers the yarn over device 46. The yarn p asses from device 46 to guide bar 49 and then through a pigtail guide 50 and in doing so the yarn is caused to contact a further roller 51. Said roller 51 is mounted on -a power driven shaft 52 whereby, as said shaft 52 is rotated,- the roller 51 is caused to rotate at a predetermined surface speed related to the linear speed of the yarn. It will be appreciated that roller 51 may also serve as a furnishing device. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 roller 51 is partially submerged in a trough 54 containing a bath 56 of a sizing agent.

Thus, as the yarn Y passes around roller 51 which is immersed in the bath 56 the yarn takes on size from the bath. It will be apparent that vertical adjustment of bar 49 and guide 50 relative to the axis of shaft 52 will also control the degree of contact of the yarn with roller 51 and, thereby control the amount of pickup of size by the yarn.

There is disposed upwardly of said sizing stat-ion a further heater 60 having a centrally positioned elongated tube 61 therein which is located to receive the yarn axially therethrough upon its passage through guide 50. Heater 60 is preferably about 27 inches long and is capable of being heated to a temperature to fix or dry the size on the yarn strand. Heater 60 may be of any suitable type but, preferably is a radiant heater such as that fully disclosed in the earlier cited Patent 2,864,931. By this construction the heater is not contaminated with the sizing agent, that is to say, the sizing agent is not deposited on the radiant heater. Thus the operating efliciency of the apparatus is maintained to a higher degree by the use of a radiant heater. From heater 60 the yarn is directed through a guide 62 to a take-up means. Said take-up means is constituted as a pair of rolls 65 and 66. Roll 66 is powered through shaft 68 upon which this roll is mounted and, in turn, roll 65 is driven by frictional contact with roll 66. A traverse 70 is arranged to receive the yarn directed thereto from guide 62 and over guide bar 63 in order to deposit the yarn in a level wind on roll 65. It will be appreciated that the yarn is under a uniform predetermined tension at all times between its passage from tension 16 to take-up 65, the level of tension between any two contact points being, of course, dependent upon the conditions of the contact points, sizing material, yarn count, lubricant, etc. Moreover, by virtue of the take-up arrangement the yarn is taken up at a predetermined rate correlated with the tension condition in the strand as it is processed through the apparatus described.

Referring now more particularly to the lubricating material employed in lubricating bath 36 in practicing the present invention, this is desirably a high molecular weight polyalkylene glycol such as is sold commercially under the trade name Ucon Lubricant 50HB-55 manufactured and sold by Union Carbide Chemical Company, South Charleston, W. Va.

The particular sizing agent employed in bath 56 may be of any well known kind. Factors such as cohesiveness of a particular sizing agent to a particular glass yarn, cost, and the end use to which the processed glass yarn will be put will, obviously enter into selection. With respect to the last mentioned factor and by way of example, yarns which are to be knit would require a size having good inherent lubricity characteristics so that the yarn would flow smoothly in the knitting machine. Examples of suitable sizing agents for selected conditions are sodium alginate, polyvinyl alcohol and paraffin wax.

In accordance with the present embodiment of the invention glass yarn Y is .drawn over the end of supply package and drawn through the apparatus at a preselected linear speed to be finally wound onto take-up roll 65. In the course of its movement the glass yarn is engaged by tension means 16 which serves to maintain the yarn Y under a pre-established tension in the heat zone. By virtue of this arrangement twist which is inserted into the yarn by spindle 28 runs back through heater '20 and is arrested at tension means 16. The actual number of turns of twist in the glass yarn between spindle 28 and tension means 16 is, of course, controlled by the speed of rotation of said spindle 28 and the linear speed of the 6 yarn through the spindle 28. Further, it will be clear that after the yarn is heated in its twisted state in the zone of heater 20 the yarn is cooled in the cooling zone between heater 20 and twist trapping device 46 to thereby set the twist in the glass yarn. Moreover, this yarn is lubricated in the cooling zone by roller 30 prior to passing around twist trapping device 46. This lubrication of the yarn is advantageous in facilitating the movement of the glass yarn around the twist trapping device 46 and upwardly through guide 48. Due to the fact that the yarn is wrapped about twist trapping device 46 on a small radius of curvature (twist trapping devices commonly employed in apparatus as exemplified herein being in the order of inch diameter) and further, in the light of the fact that the glass yarn may rub against an adjoining wrap of yarn on the twist trapping device thereby increasing the frictional drag of the yarn by resisting its movement, the yarn has been observed to break frequently in the area of twist trapping device 46 and guide 48 in the absence of such lubrication. This lubricant also lubricates the individual filaments during the untwisting process and thereby reduces the abrasive action of filaments on each other during the untwisting step of the operation.

Upon emergence from the twist trapping device 46 the yarn is untwisted, this untwisting occurring by virtue of the operation of false twist spindle 28 in a manner well known in the art. After the yarn has been untwisted it is sized by contact with roll 51. It will be appreciated that the glass yarn, after being untwisted, is maintained under tension sufiicient to prevent the afore-mentioned pigtails forming in the yarn. In the course of the movement of the yarn Y against roll 51 and through heater 60 the yarn is sized, the size fixed or dried and thus the yarn is prevented from looping. Consequently, as it is Wound onto take-up roll 65 the yarn is in a substantially straight configuration, possessing only latent forces. Thereafter, the yarn from take-up roll 65 may be readily woven or knitted into a fabric after which the size is removed by washing in water or other suitable solvents or by being vaporized off in a heated zone at a suitable temperature to release or activate the latent forces in the yarn to thereby provide a product having highly desirable permanent stretch characteristics.

In fabric form the yarn either does not assume the looped or pigtail configuration because of fabric type and geometry or the loops that are developed in the yarn are never fully extended, thus barring the undesirable fracturing characteristics of the looped or pigtailed glass yarn described earlier.

The following are typical examples of the production Example I To produce a stretch glass yarn having high stretch and recovery characteristics for use in upholstery materials and the like, glass yarn of the type identified as type 150/ 1/0 manufactured and sold by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, Ashton, R.I., and having 1 turn Z twist per inch was processed by being drawn off the supply package 10 at 533 inches per minute. The yarn was S twisted 37 turns per inch by spindle 28 being operated at a speed of 19,700 r.p.m. and while thus being twisted the yarn was passed through heater 20 under a tension of 7 grams. The heater 20 was heated to a temperature of 1100 F., the heater being 27 inches long. Ucon Lubricant 50-HB55 was applied to the yarn by roll 30. A 0.5% solution of sodium alignate was applied to the yarn by roller 51 and the sized yarn was dried by heater '60 which was set at a temperature of 800 F. as the yarn was passed therethrough. The length of heater 60 was 27 inches. The glass yarn processed in accordance with the foregoing possessed about 400% stretch in yarn form and about infabric form.

Example 11 in the previous example, having 1 turn Z twist was processed by being drawn otf supply package 'at 533 inches per minute, The yarn was S twisted 37 turns per inch by spindle 28 being operated at 19,700 r'.p.m. and while thus being twisted the yarnwas passed through heater under a tension of 7 grams. The heater was 27 inches long and was heated to a temperature of 1100 F. Ucon Lubricant 50HB55 was applied to the yarn by roll 30. No sizing agent was applied to the yarn. The twisted yarn was passed through heater 60, which was heated to 800 F. The length of the heater was 27 inches. The glass yarn produced in accordance with the foregoing procedure had about 100% stretch in yarn form and about stretch in fabric form.

Thus, it will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention provides a method for producing stretch glass yarn having torsional forces in the yarn, which said yarn can be readily made into an article. The article exhibits permanent stretch wavy or fluifed characteristics. Moreover, the present invention provides a method for producing stretch glass yarn wherein the degree of stretch or liveliness in the'yarn may be controlled as a part of the overall process, which said stretch is uniform and permanent. A

While a selectedembodiment of the present invention has been herein illustrated and described; it should be apparent that many variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, under certain conditions it may be desirable to provide positive feeding of the glass yarn to the take-up; This may be required, for example, when a high degree of control of the stretch in the yarn is required as in Example 11 or where the density characteristics of the yarn package are to be controlled. With such objectives in mind there is shown in FIG. 3 a modified form of the present invention. It will be appreciated, in connection with FIG. 3, that the elements below false twist spindle 28' will be identical with those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Moreover, it is to be understood in the modification of FIG. 3 false twist spindle 28' operates in the same manner as false twist spindle 28 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. Thus, spindle 28 includes a blade 38' driven by an endless belt 40' against the blade by a guide pulley'42'. The spindle 28 includes an enlarged head portion 44' supporting a twist trapping device 46', and an upper guide 48'. The yarn Y is false twisted by spindle 28' in the same manner as described in connection with the earlier embodiment whereafter the yarn is directed over guide bar 49', through guide eyes 50 and 62' and heater over bar 63' to be taken up on take-up 64' driven by frictional engagement with drive roll 65'. All of the foregoing elements are the same in construction and operate in the same manner as their counterparts in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the modification of FIG. 3 the sizing roll and trough are omitted and a pair of positively driven nip rolls or feed rolls 72' are provided between bar 49' and guide 50' to nip the yarn therebetween and advance it at a controlled rate through heater 60'. Thus, the tension in the glass yarn passing through heater 60' is correlated with the heat applied to the yarn thereat so that the desired degree of relaxation in the torsional forces in the yarn is achieved. A high accurate and precise control for the yarn is, therefore, provided to control the physical characteristics of the yarn taken up on roll 65. Obviously, the stretch imparted to the processed yarn will be a function of the degree of relaxation given the yarn as it passes through heater 60 and the temperature to which the yarn is heated at heater 60'. j

Another modification within the scope of the invention is achieved with the structure of FIG. 4. Here again, the view is fragmentary and it should be understood that the arrangement of parts below false twist spindle 28 is the same as that as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Moreover, false twist spindle 28" includes blade 38" operated by belt 40 which is guided by pulley 42". False twist spindle 28" includes a head 44" carrying a twist trapping device 46" so that the false twist spindle operates in the same manner as that of the spindle of FIGS. 1 and 2. The yarn Y" is guided from spindle 28" over bar 49", through guides 50" and 62" to be taken up on roll 65" driven by frictional engagement with drive roll 66". It is to be understood that all of the components just recited operate in the same manner as the corresponding structures in the first described embodiment. In FIG. 4 it will be seen that a trough 54" is provided between bar 49" and guide 50". Said trough 54 is provided with a series of heating elements 74 arranged to heat a bath 56" of sizing agent having a melting point higher than ambient, such as parafin wax. A roll 51" is partially submerged in the bath and is rotated on drive shaft 52". The yarn Y" is fed against the roll to have the sizing agent applied thereto. It will be observed that the heater for dying the size have been omitted in this modification and the space between guides 50" and 62 constitutes a cooling zone whereby the size is hardened on the glass yarn prior to take up on roll 65". The sizing agent, of course, functions the same as described earlier with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to control the coiling and crimping of the yarn as the yarn is taken up. It will be apparent that this modification of the invention admits of certain additional economies in operation by avoiding the necessity for heat drying of the size. a v

Since certain changes may be made in the above method and apparatuses without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative only, and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of producing glass yarn having permanently crimped, flulfed or wavy characteristics which comprises, continuously drawing the glass yarn from a source of supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature to yarn-set the same in the twisted formation, providing uniform tension on the yarn in said heated zone, applying a lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, cooling the yarn under uniform tension to stabilize the same after passage through said heat zone, untwisting the yarn, and collecting the processed yarn.

2. The method of producing glass yarn having permanently crimped, flufied or wavy characteristics which comprises, continuously drawing the glass yarn from a source of supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature to yarn-set the same in the twisted formation, providing uniform tension on the yarn in said heat zone, applying a lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, cooling the yarn under uniform tension to stabilize the same after passage through said heat zone, untwisting the yarn, collecting the processed yarn, and fixing a stiffening agent on said yarn prior to collecting of the same while maintaining the yarn under prescribed tension to preclude substan tially any coiling in the processed yarn. j

3. The method of producing glass yarn having permanently crimped, fiuffed or wavy characteristics which comprises, continuously drawing the glass yarn from a source of supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature to yarn-set the same in the twisted formation, providing uniform tension on the yarn in said heat zone, applying a lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, cooling the yarn under uniform tension to stabilize the same after passage through said heat zone, untwisting the yarn, applying a stiffening agent to said yarn, heating said yarn to dry the stiffening agent thereon while maintaining the yarn under prescribed tension to preclude substantially any coiling in the processed yarn, and finally collecting the processed yarn.

4. The method of producing glass yarn having permanently crimped, flufIed or wavy characteristics which comprises, continuously drawing the glass yarn from a source of supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature to yarn-set the same in the twisted formation, providing uniform tension on the yarn in said heat zone, applying a lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, cooling the yarn under uniform tension to stabilize the same after passage through said heat zone, untwisting the yarn, applying a stiffening agent to said yarn, passing said yarn through a cooling zone to set said stiffening agent thereon while maintaining the yarn under prescribed tension to preclude substantially any coiling in the processed yarn, and finally collecting the processed yarn.

5. The method of producing glass yarn having permanently crimped, fluffed or wavy characteristics which comprises, continuously drawing the glass yarn from a source of supply, twisting the yarn drawn from said supply, passing the yarn at a selected linear speed through a heat zone to heat the yarn to a temperature to yarn-set the same in the twisted formation, providing uniform tension on the yarn in said heat zone, applying a lubricant to the yarn after heating thereof, untwisting the yarn, relaxing the strand in a controlled manner to preclude substantially any coiling in the processed yarn, setting said yarn in said relaxed condition, and finally collecting the processed yarn.

6. Apparatus for processing glass yarn comprising, a support for a supply of yarn, a heating device defining a thermally isolated heat zone for passage of yarn therethrough to heat the yarn, a false twist device including a twist trapping member to impart twist in the yarn before passage thereof through said heat zone and to untwist the yarn thereafter, means for applying a lubricant to said yarn after passage of the yarn through said heat zone and prior to engagement of the yarn with said twist trapping member, take up means for collecting the processed yarn, and tension means operable to maintain the yarn at a uniform tension during passage thereof through said heating device and to said take-up means.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said lubricating means includes a trough for holding said lubricant, and a rotatable roller disposed to deliver said lubricant to said yarn during passage of the yarn to said twist trapping member.

8. Apparatus for processing glass yarn comprising, a support for a supply of yarn, a heating device defining a thermally isolated heat zone for passage of yarn therethrongh to heat the yarn, a false twist device including a twist trapping member to impart twist in the yarn before passage thereof through said heat zone and to untwist the yarn thereafter, means for applying a lubricant to said yarn after passage of the yarn through said heated zone and prior to engagement of the yarn with said twist trapping member, take up means for collecting the processed yarn, means for controlling the torsional forces in the twisted yarn to preclude substantially any coiling in the processed yarn, and tension means operable to maintain the yarn at a uniform tension during passage thereof through said heating device.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said controlling means includes a receptacle for containing a supply of a stiffening agent, a delivery member for depositing said agent on the surface of said yarn, and a second heating device for drying said stiffening agent on said yarn.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said controlling means includes a container for accommodating a supply of stiffening agent, heating means for maintaining said stiffening agent in a liquid state in said container, and a delivery member for depositing said agent on the surface of said yarn, said container being spaced apart from said take-up means to thereby define a cooling zone through which the yarn is passed to said take-up means to thereby dry said stiffening agent on said yarn.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said controlling means includes a pair of yarn engaging rolls positioned to advance said yarn from said false twist device to said take-up means at a pro-selected speed, said yarn engaging rolls being spaced apart from said take-up means, said speed of advancement of the yarn by said yarn engaging rolls being greater than the speed at which the yarn is taken up by said take-up means, to thereby achieve controlled relaxation of said yarn, and a second heating device disposed between said yarn engaging rolls and said take-up means to uniformly heat the yarn to a pre-selected temperature sufficient to set said yarn in said relaxed condition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,133,237 10/1938 Slayter 139-420 2,133,238 10/1938 Slayter et al. 139-420 2,539,301 1/1951 Foster 139-421 2,842,934 7/ 1958 Owens 57-140 X 2,893,442 7/1959 Genin 139-420X 2,984,586 5/1961 Koon 117-126 2,993,872 7/1961 Gagnon et a1 117-126 X 3,029,590 4/1962 Caroselli et al. 57-140X 3,060,549 10/ 1962 Horton 57-140 X 3,066,383 12/1962 Marzocchi et al. 57-164X 3,085,389 4/1963 Wegener et al. 57-34X 3,091,912 6/1963 Stoddard et al. 57-34 X 3,166,886 1/1965 Kretsch 57-164 X 3,247,660 4/1966 Reeder et al. 57-35 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,349,889 12/ 1963 France.

777,625 6/ 1957 Great Britain.

801,858 9/1958 Great Britain.

979,872 1/ 1965 Great Britain.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner. FRANK J. COHEN, Examiner. D, WATKINS, Assistant Examiner. 

6. APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING GLASS YARN COMPRISING, A SUPPORT FOR A SUPPLY OF YARN, A HEATING DEVICE DEFINING A THERMALLY ISOLATED HEAT ZONE FOR PASSAGE OF YARN THERETHROUGH TO HEAT THE YARN, A FALSE TWIST DEVICE INCLUDING A TWIST TRAPPING MEMBER TO IMPART TWIST IN THE YARN BEFORE PASAGE THEROF THROUGH SAID HEAT ZONE AND TO UNTWIST THE YARN THEREAFTER, MEANS FOR APPLYING A LUBIRCANT TO SAID YARN AFTER PASSAGE OF THE YARN THROUGH SAID HEAT ZONE AND PRIOR TO ENGAGEMENT OF THE YARN WITH SAID TWIST TRAPPING MEMBER, TAKE UP MEANS FOR COLLECTING THE PROC- 